Paint pans of the type having a hook or hooks which extend downwardly therefrom and have a paint well formed at one end of the pan have been utilized for many years by professional painters and do-it-yourselfers alike. The primary advantage to the use of such paint pans resides in the ease with which paint is neatly dispensed onto a roller, which is typically used to paint large areas where use of a paint brush would inordinately increase the time required to complete the job. It is nearly impossible to dispense paint onto a roller without first transferring the paint from the can in which the paint is packaged and sold and into a paint pan.
Such paint pans are designed to be removably mounted on slat-type ladders by engagement of the hooks with the slats, with such ladders being designed to elevate the user to a maximum height of approximately six feet off the ground.
When an area to be painted requires the painter to position himself or herself at heights greater than six feet off the ground, a rung-type ladder is typically employed. However, paint pans of the type described above are not designed to be supported on the rungs of such ladders, thereby making it impractical for the painter to use the pan as a paint dispenser. Therefore, the advantages of utilizing such a paint pan are often outweighed by the difficulty encountered in properly supporting the pan on a ladder when a rung-type ladder is used to reach the area to be painted. The rungs do not provide sufficient support for the pan, and attempts to rig the paint pan for use on a rung ladder often result in spilled paint and problems for the painter.
Many prior arts supporting devices which are removably mounted on a ladder are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 248,014; 1,112,511; 2,252,025; 2,496,057; 2,606,079; 3,738,601; 4,401,187; 4,437,544; and 4,618,030. The devices disclosed in these patents function as one or all of the following: a step, a shelf, a staging support, or a paint can holder. Although these previous devices satisfactorily perform their intended functions, none of the devices would satisfactorily support and secure a paint pan in a horizontal orientation on a rung or rungs of a ladder without interfering with the path of movement of a painter.
The closest known prior art to my improved paint pan supporting device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,677. However, there are significant differences between the device of the present invention and the device shown in this patent. First, the device of the present invention has a crossbar which engages the hook or hooks depending from the paint pan for quick and secure removable supporting of the pan on the device to prevent spillage of paint from the pan. In contrast, a paint pan must be snap-fitted into a saddle of this prior art device which prevents any loose play of the pan when it is removably mounted on the device. Secondly, the device of the present invention engages adjacent rungs of a ladder and is independently removably mounted thereon. In comparison, the prior art device engages only one rung of a ladder, with the depending hook or hooks of the paint pan engaging the ladder rung next above the rung engaged by the support device. Thus, this prior art device is not independently removably mounted on the ladder as is the device of the present invention, but rather remains engaged with a rung of a ladder only when a paint pan is mounted on the device and the pan hooks are engaged with a ladder rung.
Accordingly, the need exists for a paint pan supporting device which is quickly and easily removably mounted on adjacent rungs of a ladder for removably supporting and securing a paint pan thereon to prevent spillage of the paint contained therein. Furthermore, the need exists for such a device which is adjustable for adapting the device for use on ladders having a non-standard separation between adjacent rungs, and which is formed of a lightweight flexible material which is durable and economical to manufacture.